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I spent a second day in the Spring Mtns northwest of Las Vegas, visiting a
trio of 10K peaks north of Mt. Charleston. Two of the summits are featured in
Zdon's Desert Summits book which I have been loosely collecting over the
years. Midsummer heat in the lower reaches played a big part in keeping me as
high as possible during my trek across the Southwest to Colorado where I was
due in a week.
McFarland Peak
This was the most interesting of the three peaks, reportedly the most difficult
of the high peaks found in the Spring Mtns. The Southwest Gully route is steep
class 3 according to Zdon and other sources. Starting from the
at the highest stretch of pavement in Lee Canyon,
I followed this up for two miles to with the Bonanza
Trail along the crest of the range. The
Bonanza Trail continues north and northwest past Peak 10,068ft, for a total of
about four miles until on the south side of McFarland. It's a nice hike along
the trail through forest open to views for much of the journey. Mummy Mtn is
seen to with the highest peak in the range, Mt. Charleston,
visible to . Yesterday's clouds had all but disappeared,
leaving a few low ones creeping up from the valleys below as the morning
started to warm. McFarland past Peak 10,068ft, with
sharp cliffs on its
discouraging shorter approaches from that side. I followed the trail until it
begins a series of short . A large snag leans
against a that I recognized from one of the photos I'd
seen. A use trail can be found leading away from the trail to the base of the
. The climb was not as difficult as I had been led to
believe, most of it steep class 2 with a few moves of
sprinkled here and there, none of it with any
real exposure. Rockfall was minimal and it did not seem to pose a problem for
larger groups that might venture up this way. It took about 25min to climb the
gully from where I left the trail to where the gully tops out west of the
summit. Less than ten additional minutes then led to the highpoint. Though
unobstructed by trees, my views were marred by the that
were rising from below and I only managed fleeting views
and the . Like the day prior on Cockscomb Ridge,
found at the summit dated back only a few months. After
snapping a few , less than 30min was needed to get back
down to . So much for one of the toughest peaks in the Spring
Mtns.
Bonanza Peak
Less than 2mi NW of McFarland, Bonanza Peak doesn't really have a whole lot to
recommend it. The Bonanza Trail doesn't actually go over the summit, but it
comes fairly close at less than a quarter mile. The northern route starting
from Camp Bonanza is a good deal closer, but if you have the time and energy it
isn't so hard from Lee Canyon either - just follow the trail. I left the trail
to climb up the west side and then descended down the south side, both steep
but class 2. A use trail appears to reach from the north if
you want
an even easier way to reach the top. A few trees share space with the summit
rocks but it was clouds, not trees that kept the views at bay. Branch Whitney,
a Las Vegas resident, peakbagger and guidebook author had left
the previous year, but it appears he has detractors who
chose to deface
with their judgements of Branch - apparently the mountains do not bring good
tidings equally to all of those that visit them.
Peak 10,068ft
This unnamed summit lies a little more than a mile SE of McFarland. I had
passed by the top as I followed the trail to McFarland earlier in the morning
but decided to pay it a quick visit on my way back. has a
small cairn and some trees blocking much of the views, and also featured a
Gordon/Barbara register . Seventeen pages suggested it is more
popular than I would have guessed. The entries do not seem to be from the usual
suspects chasing down NV 10Kers, but rather a mix of wandering souls, Boy
Scouts, hunters and photographers looking for a Bristlecone speciman for that
perfect sunset shot. I spent the last hour and change returning to the TH where
I'd started some 8hrs earlier. A few helped shaved some
distance off the trail miles but probably didn't save much time.
I was happy to relative early, before 3p, which allowed me
some daylight time for some serious driving. I was heading to the Tushar Mtns in
Utah where Delano Peak is located, more than 4hrs from the head of Lee Canyon.
A stop in St. George for fuel, food and caffeine would help break up the drive
some. Onward Ho...
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